Monday, February 12, 2007

Sarawak Laksa Overdose

Was in Kuching over the weekend for a friend's wedding. Without much inkling as to where exactly to go for the famed Sarawak Laksa, we just walked around the vicinity of our hotel, and stopped at the first coffee shop that offered it. It was 1.30pm, but I think Kuchingers eat very early....everything was nearly sold out, and I think we got what must have been the last two bowls. In retrospect, that one was the best, but I didn't have my camera on me then. Anyway, they all look more or less the same, and actually, all the ones we had were pretty decent.

Another Kuching dish is mee kolok. It refers to an afro kind of noodle, much like wantan mee, except wavy, and is cooked more or less the same way as wantan mee, sans the black sauce. Again, I didn't have my camera on me, except later on when I had the fried mee kolok. It's actually quite tasty.

On our quest to find the single swallow brand of Sarawak Laksa paste, which Boolicious had to track down for me through a series of sms-es, (it's very handy to know the culinary queen and have her phone number), in Chinatown, I even bumped into Mr Ho of Mr Ho's fine foods. He knows me by name, so it was quite amusing to see his surprised look, and mine. We also found this quaint little coffee place, called Bings. I had to have the mars bar cheese cake, after all that hawker fare three consecutive meals, and a nice cup of tea. The mars bar cheesecake was not bad. A bit sweet.

Meanwhile, finding the single swallow brand laksa paste was proving harder than expected. Most places carry the Barretts brand (apparently son of the single swallow fella), Double Swallow, and Eagle. Finally, I managed to find one non descript sundry shop that stocked it, in 600gm packages. To confuse matters, it doesn't say SINGLE SWALLOW.... it actually says layang layang. Further frantic sms-es to boolicious to confirm if the man's name was Tan Yong Him...

Anyway, it turns out it was the correct brand. Apparently the fler's dead oridi, so who's making it? His son sells it under the name Barretts.

Kuching is quite a nice quaint little city. It's quite sprawling, as in the residential areas are quite far apart. We walked from the hotel, down the river esplanade to the Indian Street, and Chinese Street, after the wet market. I'm sure these places exist in KL, but since I'm never on holiday here in KL, I never explore.

I forgot what these fruits are called, above. They loook like some kind of olive. And I've always prided myself on knowing most malaysian produce.

I love these large containers of spice, and beans etc. They remind me of a carefree, long gone era. Somehow scooping it from the plastic containers at Carrefour isn't quite the same. Now, the picture below is a sight to behold. Eugh. Margarine, by the sack load.

So it's true, that urban legend about how you can leave margarine exposed, and no fly worth its salt will come near it, coz of all the fake ingredients. Nor does it melt.

if dats margarine in the foreground, would dat be kaya in the background?

i hear from a colleague dat in Sarawak, their char siew is quite horrid ... "it's so hard u can loh lei tang kow (throw dem at the dogs)" were his exact words. i have to believe him since he had 2 tours of national duties (ex-govt servant) in dat place ... so dnt quote me on the char siew as i do not have 1st hand experience.

unkaleong, well, it may have cleared the throat, but my throat's sore now.

smaller toe, well, the charsiew i had was okay what...the only thing is it seems to be colored with that carcinogenic red dye that isnt very common here anymore. as for farnee comment, roll eyes. what, fishing for compliment ah?

hl, that's the thing laaaa, i cant remember what its called. i asked the man. i thought it might be some local form of olive.

haha, typical fbb response. nt fishing 4 anything. u were d one who mentioned dat my comments were farni at the "other" weekend wedding at the East (not E.M'sia). i was wondering y u said dat ... bt i guess u were just more "spirited" dat nite.

anyway, wat r those in the background?

ps. anyone asked u 2 do last min over-glorified-ladies-just-dig-it-popularised-by-Hallmark-Val-day cake-ah? if got, can make a big killing! Ding3! $$$!

tummythoz, youuuu flattter me. hardly stalker la. actually, i didnt pay much attention to the stuff surrounding the margarine, but from subconscious memory, i think there was various forms of processed fat, like ghee, or a derivative of it, and yar, that stuff looks like kaya. as i rarely eat kaya, once again, didn't pay attention....but i think industrialised kaya well, is still kaya, whereas, margarine, industrialised or not, is FAKE!!! bleh.

hl, oh, those ah, that look like buffalo horns. yar, the name just escapes me for now. arrrrrrgh!!! now i am gonna obsess about it till i find out.

smallertoe, yes, well, i was in good spirits at that wedding. and no, no last minute orders for valentine's day...anyway, you know my views about these commercial displays of affection...it would almost be against my principles to bake any such cake. ALMOST, i said. in any case, i only have one heart mold, but only coz darling daughter requested a heart cake years ago. valentine's day....SHUDDER....

Since you can't come to the dinner, can you make it to the hawker delight on Friday night (Feb 23rd). Boo, WMW, maybe Tonixe and I are going to Petaling Street and Jalan Alor for hawker food...can come? Let me know your HP number please. I sent you an email but you didn't reply. :(

rasamalaysia, i did email you my hp no, but via streamyx, and that's about as reliable as the atms in bank bumi... have resent via jaring, and yes, hopefully will be able to join you guys on friday in j alor

cek, thanks. whats the horns called in english, and is dabai a kind of olive?

boo, i think i need to be tagged again to reveal more about myself. roses and diamond rings??? LOUD LOUD CYNICAL LAUGHTER....

dabai is also called "kanna" in hokkien, local olives. they would normally steam it till it softens and eat with dark soya sauce or salted when steamed. they will also keep the seeds to crack and eat the "nuts" inside. acquired taste thou.

As for the sarawak laksa infamous paste, its now called barret, they have a kopitiam selling laksa too and you can buy the paste and sambal from them. Too bad i didnt know you are going else would have guide you there, located somewhere near 3rd mile.It taste horrible if you ask me. Theres a new type of laksa paste, it works just like tomyam paste where you now don't have to boil and drain the chillies.

If you were to go kch again, do check out my sister's blog of all "famous" laksa in sarawak and their comparison. http://everydayrojak.wordpress.com/2007/01/08/best-of-sarawak-laksa/

fbb, speaking of public display of affections, i sort of remember some many moons ago, some bloke baked a CARROT cake w a 3 CARAT D-ring on the side as deco, or was it stuffed somewhere inside d cake ... nahh ... she would have choked.

i guess, in defence of that fler, there are some events where its inevitable to do some meryl streep-like acting la. weddings, definitely, i mean, when the priest says you may kiss the bride, its more like an order anyway. and engagement parties, i guess have to show SOME form of ermmmm, affection.

oh, tonixe, in relation to your question, got pics what of the dayaks and what not, on the other limiteditions blog.

melissa, thank you for your kind words...actually my photographs leave a lot to be desired compared with all those professionals out there...i really need to invest in a better camera for blogging purposes.

Hi there! Thanks for dropping by my blog. Was telling myself to visit your blog one of these days after knowing who was invited to the meetup. Well, hopefully we all will be able to. Wah! I get to meet the sifus floggers! :oD

About Me

Oft misunderstood soul. Shy, reserved, likes to stay in the background, but inevitably mistaken as not shy, extrovert etc. Originally meant to be a culinary blog, but in due course discovered man does not live on cake alone..hence the waffle.